Facebook has launched its own app store, letting you play and download games and apps for both the browser-based site and for your iPhone or Android mobile.

The new store will let you browse through the ever-growing world of apps before deciding to use them. To help you wade through the universe of apps, Facebook will use its social data to only show the best of the best, with user ratings to determine which apps will feature. If your annoying fart app only got one star, it's not getting in.

You'll be able to access the app store as normal through your Facebook account via the web page or using the various mobile apps. If you want to download an app on your phone, then you'll be taken to either the iOS app store or the Android Market Google Play store.

Developers will also be able to create paid-for apps specifically for the browser-based site. Facebook will take a 30 per cent cut of sales of these, but thankfully it's not adding a 'service-charge' for other apps such as Spotify or Draw Something, which are simply being listed in the store.

When you visit an app on the store, you'll see a details page including a user rating, amount of downloads as well as screenshots of the app itself, very much like what you'd see if you looked at an app in Apple's App Store or Google Play.

The app store is due to be opened up to developers throughout May, with a public release probably coming sometime soon after, although no firm dates have been announced.

What do you think of the Facebook app store? Do you see it being the place you shop for for your new software or is it simply going to be another piece of information cluttering up your busy news feed? Let me know in the comments below or over on our app storeFacebook page.

About the author

Andrew is a senior editor at CNET and has always been fascinated by tech. When not getting up close and personal with the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
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